Woyzeck

An unfinished play by Georg Büchner (1813-1837), about a German soldier who murders his mistress. Deals with jealousy, murder and the individual’s struggle against society. A number of incomplete versions written in 1836-7, then later edited by Karl Emil Franzos and published posthumously in 1879. First produced by Max Reinhardt, but only in 1913 in München.

Performance history in South Africa

First produced in South Africa by ***.

In the early 1960s it was one of the first plays produced by the Serpent Players.

Barney Simon did a version for PACT in the Arena in 1973

The play became a popular training piece for drama students in the 1970s.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans in 1981 (under the title Woyzeck) from the original German and based upon the German source material, by Johann van Heerden. Staged by the Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch in the H.B. Thom Theatre in September 1981, directed by Johann van Heerden (assisted by Sharon Theron), with Lochner de Kock (Woyzeck), Hannes Baard (Onderoffisier), Neels Engelbrecht (Dokter), Wilna Engelbrecht (Ou Vrou & Ouma), Peter Holden (Andres), Linda Jacobs (Margret), Ronél Kriel (various), Adèle Marais (various), Theresa Marais (Käthe), Albert Maritz (Tamboermajoor), Pamela Moag (various), Elzette Pretorius (various), Johan Rademan (various), Anton Smith (various), Fanie Steenkamp (Karl), Danielle Stevens (Dokter se Vrou), Zoettje Strachan (various), Hélène Truter (Marie), June van Merch (various) and Emile van Wyk (various). Décor and lighting by Emile Aucamp, costumes by Elaine Aucamp and music by Roelof Temmingh.

The play became the basis of the first collaboration between William Kentridge and the Handspring Puppet Company (1992) entitled Woyzeck on the Highveld. This major adaptation of Büchner’s unfinished play comments on present day South Africa through a multi-layered structure taking place on three levels, namely the rear-projected animation of filmed charcoal drawings and ink-drawn shadow puppets, and in front of the screen, the roughly carved wooden rod puppets, each manipulated by four puppeteers and an actor. The distance between the inner world as projected on the screen and the action on stage forms the thin line between Woyzeck’s twisted dream and reality. It opened at the Grahamstown Festival in 1992, with Adrian Kohler, Basil Jones, Louis Seboko, Busie Zokufa and Tale Motsepa as puppeteers, played at the Market Theatre and then toured the world. The production was presented during the Israel Festival, Jerusalem at the Rebecca Crown Auditorium, May 31 - June 2 1996. Later the puppets were sold to the Munich City Museum’s puppet collection. In 2008, they were loaned for a revival for the UNIMA Festival in Perth, Australia, with Mncedisi Shabangu taking Motsepa’s place. This also played in South Africa at the Baxter Theatre.